Electronic Foghorn The Newsletter of Fog City Nest A Congregation of the Church of All Worlds Issue #35 April 1993 BELTANE RITUAL ************** This year's Beltane ritual will be conducted by Don Eigenhauser. It will be a Tuscan witchcraft ritual where we will explore Diana and her daughter Aradia through skit and a conjuration of lemon and pins based on Leland's Gospel of the Witches. There are parts available for several characters. Contact Don if you are interested in playing a part and he will send a script to you. It will take place at Sutro Heights; meet at the bus shelter on Pt Lobos and El Camino del Mar at 7:00 pm. What: Beltane Ritual Where: Sutro Heights When: Thursday, April 29 7:00 pm Cost: $3 Suggested Donation Bring: Cakes and wine to share, offerings for Diana, musical instruments if inclined Who: Don 415-751-4009 (This should be a great ritual. Don't miss it, I'll be there.) **************************************************************** Transformational Ritual Workshop Report by Toni Spizman We had an excellent workshop on March 28 presented by Wendy Hunter Roberts on Making Ritual Real. We discussed the purpose of ritual and what had caused ritual to work for us in the past. Wendy talked about the need for presence in ritual and she broke presence into four categories: 1) Presence of self 2) Presence to each other 3) Presence of the Divine 4) Presence of Purpose This is just the bare bones of the discussion. What is hard to put in a few paragraphs is the sudden shafts of light that sud denly bring big chunks of your past experience together but that seem so basic in retrospect. I could tell you what they were for me, but I suspect they were different for everyone. If you missed this workshop, you may want to contact Wendy Hunter Roberts to see if she will be presenting the material again. Wendy also teaches classes and is available for counseling. Her phone number is 510-535-0857. **************************************************************** Earth Day - April 24 To honor the Earth and to do service to the community, Fog City Nest members (at least one of us) will help work on the Aids Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm. The Grove is on Bowling Green Drive near the Tennis Courts. Bring a lunch, sturdy shoes, a warm shirt (layers you can take off), and work gloves with leather palms if possible. The Dept of Rec and Park provides the tools. In case of rain, 621-3260. Thank you to Maxine for researching this community project for us. **************************************************************** Camping Trip The camping trip is June 4, 5 and 6th. We are going to a place called Emerald Earth in the Anderson Valley in southern Mendocino county. There is a cabin with a sleeping loft and mattresses. There are mosquitos. There is poison oak. There are 189 acres of land which we will have to ourselves to explore and do ritual on. Here are the details: We will be doing a communal food thing - expect your meals to be provided, although you may want to bring snacks. There is a hot water heater but it is small; each person gets one SHORT shower. Each person is expected to do 2 hours of work per day on the land. We expect the days to be warm and the nights to be cool. Basic List: shorts, jeans, sweats(?), swimsuit, sandals, sneak ers, hiking boots, t-shirts, long-sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, socks, work gloves, tent, sleeping bag, pillow, flashlight, canteen, teddy bear. Are you excited? Are you eager? Are you bursting with enthusi asm? Then send $35 to Toni Spizman at 692 San Jose Ave #6, San Francisco, CA 94110 to hold your spot. I will also need your name, transportation situation (do you need/can you provide a ride?), what time you are available to leave on Friday, special dietary considerations, and ideas for rituals. A note regarding transportation: Transportation expenses are not included in the $35 charge. You will be expected to give the driver of the vehicle at least $5 toward gas and bridge tolls. We often seem to have more riders than cars. In a pinch, we will rent a car to get everyone up to the site. If that happens, everyone will be asked to pay an additional fee to cover all transportation expenses (so that the people in the rental car don't end up with a much higher expense) **************************************************************** A ROCK 'N' ROLL SPRING EQUINOX RITUAL, 1993 Members of the Fog City Nest attended a powerful ritual celebra tion of the Spring Equinox in Oakland last month. The Sabbat ritual was held at Leona Lodge, and co-sponsored by pagan record ing artist Leigh Ann Hussey, her bank Annwn, and the Black Oak Fellowship of the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn (NROOGD). For Leigh Ann, the sabbat was a personal celebration, as well as a public one, for she was celebrating her 10th anniversary in the Craft. Her band, Annwn, "reconstructed" from its earlier mani festation as the band Daoine Sidhe, was charged up with an the additional excitement of marking the milestone for Ms. Hussey. The ritual was recorded on audio and videotape for both posterity and an upcoming tape or album! The audience/ritual participants were offered masks to shield their pagan identities (if they felt it necessary), but I counted only one mask in the crowd of nearly one hundred people attending. The turn-out was much larger than anticipated, making our Circle more of a magickal Oval oozing out of the hall, but a "more-the- merrier" camaraderie was pervasive. The Oakland Park District lodge was a perfect setting for the concert ritual, replete with wooden floors for a'stomping and a wilderness watchtower from every lodge window. The sound crew was considerate of the bound aries of our space. A professional light show splashed petri- dish paisleys into the ebbs and flows of colored light across the floor and as a backdrop to the band. The whole of the sabbat ritual was done in the rock and roll, Celtic-romp that is Annwn in motion. Most of the vocalization was sung by Leigh Ann Hussey, who called the Quarters most im pressively, but long-time associate Elton Wildermuth provided his voice and guitar, also. Instrumental contributions included the fiddle, bass, drums, guitars, and the bodhran. Church of All Worlds participation involved more than our Nest's mere attendance, as CAW members were featured in the dances accompanying Leigh Ann's quarter-casting! We took pride in watching CAW Secretary Jessica Weiss (as Water) and our own Fog City-sister, Patricia Croteau (as Earth), both accomplished dancers. Equally enjoyable to watch was Selene Vega of IDES Nest, dancing as the Goddess-invoked. Dance and sound, dance and sound; we celebrated the returning of the Light! a "Jig of Power" was raised amidst the exhausting dance and frenzied shuffle of all present; the music and merry motion raised true celebratory power! We dropped to the floor in an abounding grounding, the band most apparently satisfied that we had successfully empowered the Equinox. Wine and non-wine complimented tasty loaves to revive us and bind us. After our necessary respite, the God and Goddess were dismissed and the Quarters were bade a hail and farewell. The Circle was opened, but, you know..... Afterwards, the lodge took on a socializing mood, and I congratu lated an exuberant Leigh Ann Hussey on ritual well done. Other CAW folk present included the delightful Fran Nowve, Bear, and "Nearly NORML" John Daies. (Incidentally, this was the first time I saw sushi offered at a public ritual - tray shriek!) Our Fog City contingent boarded our NROOGD provided shuttle to the BART, happy that we had been a part of the ritual. Blessed be! **************************************************************** April Fool by Maxine Grodjinsky The Fool's identities include the madman, the mystic, the dream er, the one who becomes like a little child in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven. The Native American concept of the "sacred clown" is an extension of these images, a further illumination of the higher esoteric truths of this key. The clown's role in the religious ceremonies of the Pueblo Tribes of the American South west exemplifies the unlimited freedom of the void that exists before creation, and the beginnings of the spiritual journey introduced by this initial card of the Tarot deck. The clowns behave in a manner contrary to the way in which one is supposed to act by doing everything one is not supposed to do. They walk backwards, eat filth and turn the lodges inside out. They are shameless beggars and thieves who dress shabbily and terrorize the villages. They disturb the ceremonies by substi tuting ashes for sacred cornmeal and trying to capture the spirit beings. Their disrespectful behavior mocks the mores, shamans and rituals of their cultures. This behavior serves several functions. Their anti-social ac tions remind the people of what is considered unacceptable. The laughter at their performances clears the worry from the minds of the participants, thereby opening them to the experiences of the ceremony. Most essentially, by exposing the forms of the ceremo ny as merely forms, the clowns remind us that all form is a representative expression of the power behind it, that all visi ble materializations are created by invisible forces. Their lesson is that the form is not to be worshiped as a "false idol" but that one must seek the inner truths veiled in outward appear ances. Information about sacred clowns is from "the Clown's Way" by Barbara Tedlock in "Teachings from the American Earth: Indian Religion and Philosophy" edited by Dennis Tedlock and Barbara Tedlock (New York: Liveright, 1975) This article originally appeared in the "Tarot Network News." **************************************************************** Tarot Musings The Star Patricia Croteau After the powerful transformative energy of the Devil and the Tower, the Star brings much needed rest. In the Devil you see the status quo for what it is - no longer useful to you. In the Tower the old is swept away. Now you must decide what to put into that empty place. Who are you ? Who do you want to be ? This is a time of rest and contemplation. A time for renewal and possibilities. You have a sense of flow and of being connected to the source. Limitless creative energy is available to you. Temperance care fully pours her energy from cup to cup conserving what she has. But the Star pours her energy out without reservation. She has no need for caution as she is connected to the goddess who is the source of all creativity. More is always available to her for the asking. My favorite version of this card appears in the Motherpeace deck. A Native American woman is floating in a pool in the desert. She is surrounded by flowers and animals. This card exudes a sense of peace and beauty that is not evident on the Rider-Waite deck. Traditionally the star has been a symbol of aspiration and hope. Who hasn't wished on a star ? To the ancients the stars were a means of orienting themselves in both time and space. The move ment of the constellations across the sky marked the passage of the year. Sailors guided themselves using the positions of the stars as references. For the twentieth century stars symbolize the hope of space flight and the possibility of alien cultures. The Star stands for a time of hope, possibility and rest. It is a sigh of relief after the hectic energy of the previous two cards. Resource box: Patricia is a Tarot teacher and co-founder of the Practical Tarot Collective. She may be reached at 415-252-8520 or by writing to 1041 Page St. San Francisco CA 94117 **************************************************************** Letter to the Editrix Dear Editor: President Clinton wants people to call his 800 numbers and write letters with suggestions for saving money. I suggest we save a quick $11 billion a year by eliminating the unjust, expensive, and ineffective War on Drugs. The U.S. imprisons more of its people per capita than any other nation in the world, more than Russia, more than China, more than South Africa, more than any one, and a quarter of those are for drug use. That's use, not sale or manufacture. The $11 billion doesn't even include the costs of imprisonment. If you agree, write to Clinton and/or Gore at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C. 20006. Mark the envelope "Re-inventing Government." Or call the Dept. of Justice at 800-869-4499. Sincerely, David Brubaker **************************************************************** This newsletter runs on Donations. Lately I have not had access to a copy machine so if you know of a source of low cost copies, let me know. Donations, Articles, and Letters to the Editrix should be sent to: Toni Spizman 692 San Jose Ave. #6 San Francisco, CA 94110 Or electronically to: navarra@well.sf.ca.us **************************************************************** LATE ADDITIONS OR "HOW COULD I BE SO DUMB AND FORGET THIS STUFF" Heartfelt apologies but I forgot some important stuff. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Business Meeting May 22, 7:00 pm. Be one of the Wheeler Dealer Power Brokers of the Nest. Attend the Business Meeting and be in on all the inside happenings. Katrina's place. 954 Hampshire between 21st and 22nd Streets. Don Eigenhauser has set up a Cash Scholarship available to any High School student in the San Francisco School system for the best essay on "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein. If you know a high school student who would like to make some easy money, tell them about it. Oh yeah! How Much? $200 While I'm at it. It is my policy (and therefore the policy of this newsletter while I'm Editrix) that anyone can get one free newsletter for the asking. If you would like to continue to receive the newsletter after that, please send a donation of AT LEAST $1 or 3 stamps of $.29 each. I need to know I'm not send ing my energy into a black hole. **************************************************************** End of Electronic FogHorn